A Fire to be Kindled
by Uncle Charlie
Summary: Sapphire and Steel are trapped, seemingly forever. There's nothing that can be done, except for one box that stands in the way of the Transuranics winning forever. Written for Element Challenge - A horrible disease
It sat in the corner of the room, looking so normal that it was easy to dismiss it as anything special. And yet there was something about the box. Something compelling.

It seemed to call to him the moment he entered the room, pulling his attention from elsewhere to refocus upon it.

 _Look at me._

He shook his head, determined to focus upon the task at hand, and there was always a task at hand, especially now for they had won the war. They were strong. They were powerful. They were forever. He stroked his rust-colored hair. Even in human form, he was tarnishing.

 _Look at me._

"Did you just say something to me," he asked as his companion pulled the hat from her head and let her dark hair tumble down.

"No. Are you ready to go? I am ready to take my leave of this place." She shuddered. "The whole existence is puerile."

"We haven't been summoned yet." Of that he was certain.

 _Look at me._

He glanced over at the box again even as the words were forming in his head. _What do you want?_ He directed the thought at it.

 _Take me._

He nearly laughed at that. _What could you possibly have that I would want?_

 _Something wonderful_

"Well?"

"Well, what?"

Fermium tapped her foot in annoyance. "I want to leave… now!"

"We haven't been summoned yet." Of that he was certain. He felt a thrum of excitement play with his nerves. "Do you feel anything?"

"Just annoyance at being kept waiting. We fulfilled our mission. Sapphire and Steel are safely trapped forever. The rest of the Elements will fall with them. They cannot stop us now. We have won."

"Perhaps we haven't. Fermium, I am serious." He took a step closer. "There is something about that box. I don't think our mission is over yet and I think that box is part of it."

"What box?" Fermium followed his point. "There are a dozen just like it in the garage. What makes it special?"

 _Look at me._

He hesitated. He didn't know Fermium that well. Few of the other Transuranics wanted to work with him because he had the reputation of being unstable. "You can't hear that?"

 _Something wonderful._

"Curium, what has gotten into you?" She walked over to the box and gave it a gentle kick with the toe of her high-heeled shoe. The box responded back with a slight hum.

 _Open me._

"What on…? Fermium jumped back. "It... it spoke to me."

"You see?" Curium joined her and knelt. "There is something in there, something calling out to me. To us. I think this is what Sapphire and Steel came to steal."

"I thought there were here because of the time loop we created." She watched him cautiously touch the box and then he shuddered as a burst of electrical energy dashed across his being. It was intoxicating.

 _This is a fraction of what awaits you._

"What's wrong? Are you ill? Damn these human forms."

"No, it was glorious. I saw…" He looked at her with amazement and joy. "I saw everything."

With that, he hastily pulled the string holding the box closed and opened the flaps. The universe stared back at him, compelling and inviting. "Look, Fermium, look!"

She looked and they were then simply gone.

Silver emerged from his hiding place behind the counter and quickly closed the box. He placed it on the counter, pulling the string tightly around it. He took a deep breath and for a moment, let his head tipped forward. He was exhausted.

Steel walked slowly from the back room, brushing off his jacket. "I could have asked for a better landing, but thank you for getting us back." he was muttering to his partner. Sapphire, for her part, looked slightly dazed.

"Welcome back, you two. We missed you." Silver stepped forward and gave Sapphire a hug.

"Oh, Silver. You are a sight for sore eyes." Sapphire hung on him, then gave his cheek a peek. "I knew if anyone would be clever enough to reverse the transport, it would be you."

"Well, after having to stare at him for a while, who wouldn't be happy to see me?" Silver tried to embrace Steel, but the Element backpedaled.

"Don't even think about it." Steel adjusted his cuffs and frowned, his nature and reputation preventing him from showing his fellow Element his immense gratitude. "How long were we gone?"

"Just a few hours." Silver led them to a table where the box sat. "It took us a while to fashion that transporter device." He grinned happily. "Jet, Diamond, and Tin went above and beyond to recover some useful information on how to construct it. Then it was merely a matter of baiting the trap."

"With what?" Sapphire asked.

"Do you remember the tale of Pandora? She had everything and all she had to do was not open a certain chest. But she couldn't resist and had to too, thereby releasing all sorts of woes into the work." Silver was quite pleased with himself. "When the Transuranics assumed human form, it meant they were privy to all sorts of human foibles, including the most horrible disease of all – curiosity. I just kept tempting Curium until he couldn't resist any longer. They should have left when they had the chance."

"Why didn't they?' Sapphire studied the object, but didn't approach the counter as if in fear of them escaping.

"You can thank Them for that. They were able to cloak this place and our bad guys never got the summoning to return. All I had to do was get them to open it. It reversed the action and pulled you back to this time period. Of course, Nature hates a vacuum, so they were taken in your stead. Now they are trapped just as you were."

He passed the box to Steel. "I do believe you can find something to do with this."

Steel smiled then and nodded. "Oh, yes. I'm going to give this device exactly what it needs – a long deep freeze."

"Why's that?" Sapphire asked.

"Curium and Fermium have high melting points, but they freeze very easily. This will be one time I won't mind giving them the cold shoulder." He started to walk away. "Thank you, Silver."

Silver clutched his chest, then grinned. "Bet you'll feel that in the morning and for what it's worth, you are welcome. It wasn't the same without you."

And with that, they quickly walked from the gas station and disappeared into the night.


End file.
